It was a stupid question, but it came quite naturally, stopping myself in mid sentence.

What would I do to kill two and a half hours? Continuing this ongoing affair with Mother Nature seemed to be a given.

Once I got my bearings, I made a beeline straight to the nearest State Park.

I’ve found that no matter how many times that I think that I’ve traversed every area of a park that I’ve patronized over the years, I find myself happily proven wrong.

I found myself in the embrace of the Patapsco Valley today.

Hearing the river rushing in the valley below, I fought the urge to run towards it.

I walked with a deliberate saunter, letting the world behind me slowly melt away.

It was a steep incline in some places, I stumbled, but I continued on.

As I made my way down to the river. It was as if I was beckoned to sit at the rivers edge.

As if Mother Nature crafted a seat, just with me in mind. I sat on a rock, in the middle of the river, while sun infused me with a warmth that seemed to download a sense of fortitude that I didn’t know that I needed.

I closed my eyes while my mind took baby steps towards making sense of it all.

Before I knew it, the two and a half hours that I needed to kill were breathing their last gasps.

The forest enveloped me in her icy embrace that I was impervious to, thanks to my internal thermal garments.

So, I continued on.

The beauty of winter is often underrated, as the cold reveals the terrain for what it is…

The majesty of the cliffs that jut out from the landscape are magnetic.

The power of the stream rushing to my right refuses to succumb to a fate of ice, being still isn’t what it aspires to.

I look up & wonder about the vantage point from the cliff…. I pause, before continuing on.

I reach a point in the forest where I usually ford the rocks to get to the other side only to find that it is covered by a layer of ice…

I see a future on me on my ass, which is a deal breaker.

No options, so I continue on… Discovering a path to my left.

I’m not ready to turn back because I haven’t acquired what I came here to get. I look upstream to see if there is another way across.

I follow this path and I kick myself for not discovering this route previously…

And… I continue on.

The sound of the water rushing by insulates me from numbness spreading into my fingers.

I’m compelled to reach back to grab my camera, rabidly removing my gloves to snap pictures as I continue on.

The rush of the water is growing in volume… Filling my ears with the splendor of the sound.

So I continue on…

I wasn’t prepared for what was over the hill…

Undaunted, I continued on…

Here lies another set of waterfalls that I was oblivious to… I made my way down to the stream and absorbed the divine. My appendages weren’t cold, but were pulsating with the warmth of divine intervention.

I didn’t want to continue on…

But I did.

The icy embrace of winter made its presence felt as I continued on.

How had this segment of the park slipped through my fingers after all of these years I wondered.

As I walked, I felt free, unburdened, unencumbered and I felt a smile creep over my face.